Atheist punished, fired for refusing to participate in daily Christian prayer meetings at his workplace.

Two workers at a North Carolina home renovation company say they were fired for refusing to participate in the firm’s daily Christian prayer meetings because it went against their religious beliefs, The Associated Press reports.

According to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Aurora Renovations and Developments LLC retaliated against the two employees who opposed required participation in daily Christian prayer sessions.

The lawsuit alleges that since at least June 2020, the company started requiring that all employees attend daily Christian prayer meetings which including mostly Christian practises like Bible readings and devotionals.

According to the complaint, prayers were requested and offered “for poor performing employees who were identified by name.” The owner would also allegedly take attendance before some meetings and reprimand employees who did not attend.

John McGaha, a construction manager, was hired by the company around the same time the prayer meetings began. He identifies himself as an atheist. McGaha said the prayer meetings initially lasted around 15 minutes but as time went on they got longer, sometimes extending to about an hour. He was even asked to lead a Christian prayer during one of those meetings but he refused.

He asked twice to be excused from the prayer meetings because they conflicted with his religious beliefs. In August 2020 he was told that it was “in his best interest” to attend. When he asked a second time in September 2020, his boss told him “he did not have to believe in God, and he did not have to like the prayer meetings, but he had to participate.” McGaha refused which resulted in his base pay being cut in half–from $800 to $400 per week–before he was fired.

A second employee, Mackenzie Saunders, a customer service representatives at Aurora was also fired when she stopped attending the daily Christian prayer meetings in January 2021. Saunders, an agnostic, described the prayer meetings as “cult-like”. Her boss told her she “was not a good fit” for the company, according to the lawsuit.

The EEOC is seeking monetary relief for the plaintiffs and an injunctive relief against Aurora, to combat religious discrimination against future employees.

“Federal law protects employees from having to choose between their sincerely held religious beliefs and their jobs,” Melinda C. Dugas, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte District, said in a press release. “Employers who sponsor prayer meetings in the workplace have a legal obligation to accommodate employees whose personal religious or spiritual views conflict with the company’s practice.”